Espada no Naruto: Fading shades of grey
by LoliBat
Summary: AU Xover with Bleach. Uzumaki Naruto was never the ordinary to begin with,and he stays this way even in death.With a group of eight, will he have what it takes to turn Hueco Mundo back to its past glory countless milleniums ago? Hiatus, to be rewritten.
1. prologue

Espada no naruto

Prologue

* * *

Summary: After dying by the hands of Pein and Konan, he gets a special job. One that must not be failed. One that will strike fear in people's hearts. Bleach X-over. Sakura bashing.

Mandy: I know I shouldn't be starting a story so soon after posting another new one, but I had to, seeing that this was blocking my constant stream of ideas.

Disclaimer: standard disclaimer; don't and never will own bleach/naruto

* * *

"Do you hereby forever pledge loyalty to my Espada and me?"

"Hai…Aizen-sama"

"Welcome to Las Noches, Wonderwice."

"Thank you…Aizen-sama"

* * *

Coming out of the shadows where he was watching, the spiky haired blonde smiled. How alike he and Wonderwice were, yet they were different in some ways. Both of them supporting Aizen in his attempt to take over Soul Society. However, didn't pledge loyalty to Aizen; he supported him out of free will.

"Amusing, huh, Gaara?"

A second person came out of the shadows and into the light.

"Hn…" But the blonde could tell that he was amused; the corner of his lips turned up on one side in a smirk, and his gold-slitted black eyes seemed to dance.

"Ahh… Ichibi no Gaara and Kyuubi no Uzumaki Naruto. What brings you two here? All is going well with the council of nine lords, I hope?"

"Yes. Very well indeed."

Now that they were no longer in the shadows, one could see their featured quite clearly, seeing that the white walls of Las Noches reflected the light from the moon. Uzumaki Naruto, former vessel of the former Kyuubi and the current Kyuubi, was dressed in normal shinigami apparel, with a white arrancar coat. Hanging by his waist was his zanpakuto Hirasenmaru, humming slightly.

The wielder, on the other hand, has spiky blonde hair, crimson slitted eyes, and a fox like face. Behind him, nine blood red tails lay there, swinging lightly. He also had a nice six-pack, but it was hidden by the slightly baggy shinigami clothes.

Even though he wears shinigami clothes and an arrancar coat, he was neither. All the nine lord council were a fusion between shinigami and hollow due to their bijuu and their souls mixing when they die, therefore, they belong to neither group. Naruto included. Another way of obtaining a seat in the council would be by defeating the jinchurriki in a death battle. Then their position and status as a demon would be transferred to the challenger if won.

Gaara, on the other hand, was a different story. His vivid red hair was still there, but his tattoo on his forehead wasn't. It was replaced by the tattoo for 'hate'. He wore the same attire as Naruto, but his obi (? Is that what you call it?) was light brown color, compared to Naruto's red. His zanpakuto, Chigetsuei, worn on his back, the belt held together by a gourd-shaped clasp filled with sand.

"It has come to our attention that some souls from our world have been sent to Soul Society after death. Our theory is that Akatsuki and the former tailed beasts caused an unbalance in our world, so some crossed over into Soul Society." He said, fully serious. The 'dead-last' 'dobe' attitude long gone. This kind of attitude would get you killed in seconds.

"Also, we have a new…addition to our group. " Gaara said, his one lone tail gesturing to the door.

"Welcome, Uchiha Sasuke… the newly chosen Lord Hachibi."

* * *

Next chapter…

"_It has come to my attention that we are the most fitted for this next SS-classed mission; infiltration of Soul Society."_

"…_.NARUTO??"_

"_Uzumaki Naruto, do you hereby swear loyalty to Soul Society?"_

"_BANKAI!"_

* * *

Jap-English translate

Hirasenmaru: Light Spiral Ring

Chigetsuei: Blood moon

* * *

Nine Lord Council (different from Espada)

Ichibi: Gaara

Nibi: --

Sanbi:--

Yonbi:--

Gobi:--

Rokubi: --

Shibi (? Is it shibi or nanabi?): --

Hachibi: Uchiha Sasuke

Kyuubi: Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

Mandy: More will be revealed soon, I don't have a constant update time, depending on how much inspiration or time I have split between my stories. Any mistakes feel free to correct me. Flames will be used for me to burn Icha-Icha with. That or roast marshmallows or my next dinner.

R&R!


	2. the wheels starts to turn

Espada no Naruto

Chapter one: the wheels start turning

Mandy: Thank you for all the people that reviewed/alerted/favorite/C2 alerted this story! AN: Wonderwice is born earlier in this fic.

* * *

_Previously:_

_"Also, we have a new…addition to our group. " Gaara said, his one lone tail gesturing to the door._

_"Welcome, Uchiha Sasuke… the newly chosen Lord Hachibi."_

* * *

"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sasuke-san; my name is Aizen Sosuke."

"Hn." He grunted, his eight scaled tails swaying behind him.

'This one would get along very well with Ulquiorra…. They're almost twins in personality…' Aizen thought, sweat dropping at the possibility.

"That is all." Naruto said, as the trio turned their back towards him and started walking away. "By the way, you are not to tell anyone of our existence or any information concerning us." At the last word, the doors to the 'throne room' slammed shut.

* * *

The trio halted in front of a pair of majestic silver doors, with the nine beasts accurately carved to the hair on the doors. At where their eyes should be, gems were set in there. The Kyuubi on the doors had ruby eyes, narrowing in a snarl.

Walking up the doors, Naruto slit his palm by using one of his claws and placed it where the Kyuubi's snout was. The eyes glowed a bit, and then the doors slowly swung open, revealing a round table with nine seats. The only three empty belonged to Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara.

"Alright, now that all of us are here, let this meeting commence." At these words, the grand doors slowly shut behind him, producing a 'clink' sound.

"Once again, welcome to our new brother, Uchiha Sasuke." Gaara said quietly, as everyone's eyes turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke met each and every single one of his brother and sisters stares with eyes filled with determination and a healthy amount of confidence. His eyes, however, paused on Lord Gobi, the five tailed dog who controlled the elements. They visibly widened in surprise, before returning back to his normal self with one corner of his lip upturned in a smirk. Of all places, he never thought that HE would be there.

"Fancy seeing you here…Ni-san" Sasuke lost his 'avenger' attitude after itachi explained why he killed the clan, at his last breath. This opportunity gave him a new reason to live; to get stronger.

"Otoutou." Inwardly, he was swelling with pride for his 'foolish brother' for surpassing him in terms of strength.

The first interruption in their family conversation was in the form of a cough from Naruto, who said "As touching as this family reunion is, we have a meeting to get on with…" only to be met with two Uchiha death glares, which he ignored.

"Right; as we discussed in the last meeting, the Akatsuki's actions are causing a misbalance in the shinobi's death world, so the more recently passed on souls are dropped into Soul Society instead. Among those are our old Rookie Nine, and their teachers respectively. As far as I know, the past Hokages with the exception Namikaze Minato are still in Limbo, otherwise known as the 'Shinigami's stomach' and the place the connects Hueco Mundo, the shinobi world, and Soul Society. "

The other lords and ladies nodded, except for the Rokuubi, who gave a Cheshire cat grin.

"Therefore, this is the perfect time to get a spy into Soul Society, which Aizen has trouble doing now that his Zanpakuto's reiatsu signature is widely known. The new souls will help us blend in, seeing that all of us are originally from the Elemental countries. It has come to my attention that we are most suited this next SS-class mission; infiltration of Soul Society." Naruto continued, gesturing to Gaara and himself. "Any objections?"

Lady Nibi stayed silent, blue cat like eyes narrowed in interest, while her tail curled up around her feet.

Lady Sanbi chose to voice her opinions; "Naruto-kun, should I come too? Team seven knows me as a good person, briefly."

"No; since you passed on early, you would have stayed in the shinobi death world."

Lady Yonbi didn't say anything, but she began thinking about the possibility of another part in the plan. All of them would easily fit in as spies, but yet he only wanted two to go on this mission. So what about other lords?

Itachi was his usual stoic self, but inside his head, he was screaming 'NO' over and over again. He would've given anything to get away from the fangirls, and he isn't dumb enough to go right back to them.

Sasuke, Lord Rokubi, and Lord Shichibi like Itachi, were past heartthrobs of Konoha, and they were both pale and shuddering at the thought of facing fangirls again.

"Very well. Since there are no objections, Gaara and I will open a rip into Limbo, then use the Shushin Gate to get to Tokyo, where we can 'meet' with a group of shinigamis stationed near Karakura Town. We will appear in our gigais, because then our youkai would attract large amounts of hollows, maybe a menos grande or two. Remember to keep the telepathic links open while we are gone; we will be reporting our finds through it."

Shushin gate was an invention that Naruto came up with shortly after discovering that the Senkai Gates are monitored by Shinigamis, and the rips produced by arrancars also monitored by Aizen. The user of those gates use a small bit of youkai open a pair of large doors which then uses high speeds to transport the user to the desired location.

"As for the rest of you, we need to put this imbalance caused by Akatsuki to a stop. If these new potential shinigamis keep pouring in, then Aizen might end up loosing the war without even putting up a good fight. Now that, would be boring, won't it?

'So that's what Naruto-kun was planning.' Thought Lady Yobi.

"Take as much time as you need, but don't take too much time slacking off. Take down your previous bijuu, since you know their weaknesses best. Gobi, you will take down Shukaku; he shouldn't be too much of a challenge. The Kyuubi you might have slight troubles with. Take him down last together. If you have too much trouble, which is unlikely, but if it does happen, call me using the telepathic link. Beware that Pein will have the Rinnegan. Oh and when the bijuu are all down, I will go in and send Madara to hell itself." Naruto said, receiving a nod from Gobi.

'Or what's left of our bijuu anyways…' thought Lady Nibi bitterly.

"Good, the plan will commence tomorrow. And also keep in mind our goal. Our predecessors built and ruled Hueco Mundo. We, their successors are to restore Hueco Mundo to that position, in the same time take down our enemy, Soul Society. Until then, meeting dismissed." Naruto told them, as they got up and walked away. Closing the door behind them, Naruto turned back and stared at the words burnt into the wall behind them; Rise again from thy Ashes, Higher than Before.

* * *

The next day….

* * *

All nine lord or ladies stood at the outskirts of Hueco Mundo, with Naruto leading them. He unsheathed his zanpakuto, Hirasenmaru, and channeled a little youkai down to the tip. Then his stabbed it into the air in front of him. The effects were instantaneous, seeing that a pair of gigantic wooden doors appeared and opened into what looks like a black void.

_'Well, until then, this is temporary good-bye.' _He said through the telepathic link.

In return, he got a few smiles and murmurs of agreement.

Then Gaara and he walked straight into the void and disappeared from view.

'Good luck, Naruto-kun.' Thought Lady Yonbi.

* * *

Stumbling out of the Shushin Gate, the duo landed in silent Tokyo, seeing that it was about one o'clock in the morning.

"Right. The hollows should be appearing right about now."

Right after Naruto said 'now', a large rip appeared in the sky, and five Menos Grandes glided out, thirsting for youkai.

'This boring.' They both thought, not knowing that they thought of the same thing at the same time.

Unsheathing Hirasenmaru from its sheath with a sigh, Naruto said rather calmly, "Kagayaku, Hirasenmaru"

The change was astonishing, to say the least. Hirasenmaru lengthened to roughly about twice it's original size, and a warm yellow glow covered the blade, the handle, and Naruto. If one inspected the blade carefully, they would see light spirals etched into the blade.

Seeing Naruto release his shikai, Gaara decided to 'show off' a bit as well. Also unsheathing his sword, he said "Shukketsusuru, Chigetsuei."

Gaara's zanpakuto also changed dramatically. His blade now looked like red blown glass, with the handle lighter than the blade. It almost looked delicate. That is, until it is stabs you. The blade also emitted an aura of blood lust, almost eager to have blood splattered all over it.

Turning to three of the Menos Gandes, Naruto just smirked and then used Shunpo to appear behind them. Shunpo was easy to grasp, because it was essentially the same as Shushin. Tilted his head to the left, he closely dodged the menos's swipe. Retaliating, he swung his blade, and a large white spiral appeared made of reiatsu, and then hit the arm of the Menos faster than the eye can see or sense. When the attack hit, the arm was immediately incinerated to ashes.

Letting the Menoses take a hit or two, Naruto soon grew bored. Deciding to end this quickly, Naruto was about to use his kurotsuki rasen, but he got his kill stolen by none other than one Hitsugaya Toshiro.

"BANKAI!"

The surrounding air dropped below zero as Hyorinmaru turned from a sword to a giant ice dragon surrounding Hitsugaya. Three delicate ice flowers appeared in the background.

'Way too flashy' was the only thought going through Naruto's head. He was rather pissed at Hitsugaya for stealing his kill, but decided not to say anything, because he quietly reminded himself that the mission goes first.

Seeing that the Menoses are dead, he sheathed his sword, while Gaara already sheathed his.

Oblivious to Naruto's thought, Hitsugaya made quick work of the Menos Grandes and hacked them all into pieces. Turning his attention to Gaara, he saw that Matsumoto Rangiku turned them all into dust, while Gaara seemed a bit miffed that there wasn't any blood left after she was done with them.

His attention was turned back to the short captain when he raised that question that was on the shinigamis' minds.

"Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Sabaku no Gaara"

"What division are you from?"

"We're not from any division. We were shinobis when we were alive, and when we died, we just got tossed here."

After taking a moment to weigh the pros and cons, Hitsugaya decided to invite them back to Karakura Town.

"Right, follow us; we met some other people who were also shinobis when they were alive. You might know who they are." Hitsugaya told the duo, who nodded.

While following them back to Karakura, Naruto got bored, and decided to talk to the others about their progress.

_'How's the plan going?'_

_'Fine. We've arrived at the elemental countries. Things…don't look too well.'_

_'That's the understatement of the century. More like destruction and chaos everywhere.'_

_'Shut up, Lady Nibi! Anyways, Konoha and Wave are flattened, and all the other countries look like Wave when Gatou was in power.'_

_'I see. I'll get the full report tonight; we've arrived at Karakura Town.'_

With that, Naruto cut off their conversation and looked around at where he was. Continuing to follow Hitsugaya, he entered a normal looking house. Everything was normal, except that there were large amounts of noises and an extremely messy kitchen covered in what looked like black goo.

"SHUT UP!! I AM NOT TROUBLESOME!!" Ino shouted at a slumping Shikamaru, who still muttered 'troublesome'

'Same old Ino….' Naruto thought, slightly sweat dropping.

Kiba, who was looking at the two with a 'not-this-again' look, turned his gaze towards the door when he heard it open, blinked once in surprise before his jaw dropped to the ground.

"…NARUTO??"

"SHUT UP!! Eh? What did you say? Naruto? Oh hi! Wait WHAT?!" Shouted/said Ino.

"Long time no see, Ino, Shikamaru,Kiba." Naruto said.

After they recovered from their shock, the shinigamis began bombarding them with questions.

"How did you get here?"

"While I was in Limbo I got thrown in here."

"How did you become a Shinigami?"

"When I got here I was confused, so I did what I always did when I'm stuck in a situation like that. I meditated, and usually the Kyuubi helps me out, but I knew that he was extracted. I still did it out of habit; that and I was already confused. I landed in a grassy field instead a sewer, and I met this really pretty lady in a yellow kimono who explained about zanpakutos and shinigamis. Then I started training with her."

"And Gaara?"

"I slept, and then I went through the same thing Naruto did. I met him while I was traveling."

"What are going to do now?"

"We don't know, but our reiatsus attract too many hollows for us to stay in one place for too long."

"You could come with us to Soul Society."

Seeing that Gaara gave a slight nod, Naruto replied "Okay, thanks, Shorty."

A vein popped on the 'shorty's forehead."WHAT DID YOU SAY?? My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro! Not 'shorty'! And you will address me as Hitsugaya-taicho"

"Um okay…" 'Geez, sensetive much...'

Just then, Ichigo and the others knocked, and Ino ran to get the door.

"Oi, Toshiro, who are they?" asked Ichigo.

"Tha's Hitsugaya-taicho to you. They are the shinobi that we found when we sensed five menos grandes in Tokyo."

"FIVE??"

"Yes, five. And they were doing okay by themselves. I'll go speak with Yamamoto-soutaicho."

Then Hitsugaya got up and left.

"So, who are you?" Naruto asked, after an awkward moment of silence.

"Kurosaki Ichigo"

"Ishida Uryuu"

"Inoue Orihime"

"Kuchiki Rukia"

"Sado Yasutora. They call me Chad"

"Nice to meet you all."

"Wow, Naruto… You've changed a lot." Said Ino.

"Having the King of Bijuus extracted from you does that." Naruto said darkly. "I'm going to get a glass of water." With that, he walked away to the kitchen, leaving silence in his wake.

* * *

"Right. So what are your orders, Yamamoto-soutaicho?"

"Bring them to Soul Society. Urahara will help you with that. We need to test them on their levels. We will station them her with you if they prove to be strong enough."

"Hai."

Neither of them noticed that the kitchen was connected to the room they were in, nor that someone on the other side formed a one-handed ram seal.

* * *

"I'm hungry. Who's up for some pizza?" Ichigo asked, while yawning.

All of them agreed, so Ichigo took out his cell phone and dialed to the pizza delivery.

* * *

After Dinner and at night

* * *

"Naruto, Gaara, Yamamoto-soutaicho ordered me to take you two to Soul Society tomorrow to get tested in terms of your power." Hitsugaya told them as he moved to sit on the couch.

"Oh if that's that case, then I better sleep earlier." Naruto said, as he stood up. "Wait… where am I going to sleep?"

Everyone just blinked and sweat dropped.

* * *

In the end, Gaara and Naruto had to share guest room with a bunk bed in it.

Sitting on the floor, the two got into a meditative position and opened up their telepathic links to full blast.

_'So, full report on what's going on?'_

_'Like otoutou said, everything is in ruins. We've tracked down our targets, and Lady Nibi is already on her bijuu's trail; flames are easy to track. All the others are found except for Kyuubi, which we suspect is hiding in Ame. We had slight trouble with Shukaku, seeing that it lives in the desert, but we found it and Akasuna no Sasori there ruling over Suna.'_

_'Wow, ni-san, I think that's the most I've ever heard you say.'_

_'Hn. I was giving a mission report.'_

_'Okay then, on my side Hitsugaya Toshiro is taking us to Soul Society to test out our powers tomorrow. Yamamoto wants us to be stationed here if our power is strong enough. We'll be leaving through Urahara's shop.' _

_'Good luck, then.'_

* * *

The next day

After a very eventful breakfast that featured numerous attempts to keep Rangiku and Orihime as far away from the kitchen as possible, the group made their way to Urahara's shop in their gigais. Coming to a halt in front of the Japanese style sliding doors, they were met by Urahara, who sensed their reiatsu.

"My my! More shinobis! I suppose you are going to open a Senkai Gate in the backyard?" Urahara said, even though his mouth was covered by his fan, and his eyes by the hat.

"Yes, that and Yamamoto-soutaicho sent a message through me about the war." Hitsugaya-taicho said to Urahara, even though his eyes flicked over to Naruto and Gaara.

"We'll go take a look at the products over there." Gaara quickly said, with Naruto following him.

Putting his hands in his pockets, Naruto browsed through the products, taking one off the shelf once in a while. No one saw that the hand inside the pocket formed a one handed ram seal and a one handed tiger seal.

'Ninpo: Extra Sensitive Eavesdrop no justsu' Naruto thought and then he took out a bottle of water, sat down, and drank it.

(The eavesdropped conversation):

"What's your take on this?" Urahara asked, his goofy attitude completely gone.

"Just their reiatsu attracted five Menos Grandes. I say they'll pass the test, since their zanpakutos trained them. It's happened before, just uncommon. They'll need to get reiatsu restraint tattoos like us, though, or else more hollows would appear."

"I'm not sure. Their help might just be what we need to win, though. Besides, twelfth division isn't exactly the fastest division around. I heard Mayuri invented a new tattoo so that the wearer can deactivate it at will. You should talk to Yamamoto about getting your tattoo changed too."

"Uh-huh. And by the way, there's word that there's a new division of arrancars that are a in a separate branch from the Espada called the Nine Lords. What do you think?"

"Well, maybe Aizen thought to have a back up plan just in case the Espada die or leave. It's not surprising seeing how they kill each other half the time." Urahara said, his tone indicating deep thinking.

"Until we get more word of this, we should deal with the Espada first, then the Nine Lords."

"Right."

After what Urahara said, chair scraping noises can be heard, and Hitsugaya said

"We should get going. Soutaicho would be disappointed if we are late."

(conversation end)

'Kai' Naruto thought, and released his jutsu. His eyes narrowed mentally at the 'Nine Lords' part. Aizen was not supposed to tell anyone at all.

_'Hey guys, change of plans. Whoever's done with their bijuu first, go back to Hueco Mundo through Limbo and give Aizen a warning. Evidently, someone spilled about us, and now Soul Society knows that we exist. They think we're a branch off from the Espada.'_

_'Hai' they replied, but Naruto could pick up hints of hatred in their voices. Shinobis _hate_ traitors, no matter how small. That is, except if it's to their advantage, which this clearly is not._

After their conversation ended, Hitsugaya came out of the room, and so did Urahara. Except that now a black cat with yellow eyes appeared.

'Shihouen Yoruichi' Gaara thought, wondering who would be faster; Rokubi and his kunais, or Yoruichi with Shunpo.

Walking out into the back yard, a black butterfly landed on Hitsugaya's finger, and a large Senkai Gate appeared. Following him, Naruto and Gaara stepped through the gate, which led to the Captains' meeting room.

"Welcome to Soul Society, Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara. Since you both are new, we have to test you on your skills." Yamamoto said, leading them into a training area.

"My name is Koutestu Isane, and I will test you both on Kidou. Perform a low level kidou on those practice dummies over there." She told them, motioning to the dummies.

Naruto decided to go first. "Disintegrate, black dog of Rodaniini. Look upon your burning soul and sever your throat. Bakudo #9: Geki!"

Then red lights surrounded the dummy, and although you couldn't see it, the dummy was bound together, to the very last straw. Technically Naruto didn't need the incantation, but he said it just so that he won't be showing off too much of his power.

Gaara, however, favored destroying stuff, so he used the lowest Hadou he knew, which was Hadou #4: Byakurai. When he said it, a streak of lightning went from his fingertips to the dummy, which was burnt crisp in seconds.

Walking over to he dummies, Isane was thoroughly shocked. The two displayed a good amount of control and power, something that was at least vice captain level!

"Er.. Right, you two pass with excellent scores. Go down that hallway and make a left into training room number ten. We'll test your Shunpo there."

* * *

"My name is Kuchiki Byakuya. You are to shunpo four laps around this room. I will personally time you. You may begin."

With that, they took off on mid-speed shunpo, or though both of them were more comfortable with Shushin.

After they finished their laps, Byakuya raised an eyebrow. Fifteen seconds four laps. That is beyond seated officers, on board with vice-captain. Quite impressive for new shinigamis.

Poor Byakuya. He didn't even know they were only on mid-speed.

* * *

After taking Byakuya's directions to room twelve, they stood there, waiting patiently for the proctor to come. A few hours later, the proctor came, in the form of a giant man and a cute little pink haired girl.

"Name's Kenapchi, this is Yachiru."

"Hello Foxxy-kun! Hello emo-kun!" Yachiru shouted, earning two twitches from two other people in the room.

"Your test is to release your shikai. From what Shorty said, you could already release it. Here are some practice dummies." He said, stepping sideways to reveal two dummies, or though one look slightly burnt.

Shrugging, Naruto said rather boredly, "Kagayaku, Hirasenmaru" and a white swirl design appeared in the air, and as soon as it did, the dummy was turned to ashes, leaving behind a trail of wind from how fast the attack was. Speed and power, two deadliest combinations.

Kenpachi started to grin. This was a captain in making.

Stepping up, Gaara said in a monotone," Shukketsusuru, Chigetsuei" and several large reiatsu concentrated orbs appeared, each one missing the target, but circling around to form a circle. Then the circles started spinning, and then one of them broke off and attacked the dummy from behind, reducing it to a puddle of steaming melted straw. The others were merely illusions that fed into the real attack.

This time Kenpachi grinned widely. Two new captains in making.

"Congratulations, you pass! Now get back here so I can have a fight with both of you!"and they both looked at each other before making a mad dash for the door.

* * *

After seeing their test results, Yamamoto was pleased; very pleased. They both passed all tests with flying colors.

"Uzumaki Naruto, do you hereby swear loyalty to Soul Society?"

"I do"

"Sabaku no Gaara, do you hereby swear loyalty to Soul Society?"

"I do"

"Good. Welcome, new third seat of Eighth division, new third seat of tenth division."

They both nodded, their hands crossed comfortably behind their backs. None of them however saw their hands, being hidden by the sleeves. If they did, they would find that their fingers were crossed.

* * *

_Next chapter:_

'_Interesting… a group of Vizards… they look familiar though… Where have I seen them?_

"_Hey there, my name is Hirako Shinji, heartthrob of the class. Let's be friends."_

_A large rip in the sky opened… to reveal two arancars, one with short green hair with brilliant green eyes, and the other more hot headed looking and big._

"_Ichigo! What's wrong with you?!"_

"_Aizen. Consider yourself warned._

* * *

Jap-English translate

Hirasenmaru Light Spiral Ring

Chigetsuei Blood moon

Kagayaku: glow

Shukketsusuru: bleed

* * *

Nine Lord Council (different from Espada)

Ichibi: Gaara

Nibi: --

Sanbi:--

Yonbi:--

Gobi: Uchiha Itachi

Rokubi: --

Shichibi: --

Hachibi: Uchiha Sasuke

Kyuubi: Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

Mandy: Whew! That was the longest chapter I've written ever… I hope it's not too short. Also, I don't have a beta, so if there's any grammer mistakes, please point them out to me so I can fix it. Thank you!

7/17/08: made more changes; considering a rewrite after the story is done.

August 17, 2008-- made more changes.

R&R


	3. Ichigo's decision

Espada no Naruto

Chapter two: Ichigo's decision

Mandy: thank you a lot for all those out there reading my story! I really appreciate it! Also, sorry for the extremely late update; I was grounded for quite a while.

* * *

_Previously on Espada no Naruto:_

_Good. Welcome, new third seat of Eighth division, new third seat of tenth division."_

_They both nodded, their hands crossed comfortably behind their backs. None of them however saw their hands, being hidden by the sleeves. If they did, they would find that their fingers were crossed._

* * *

Nii Yugito ran, her sandaled feet pounding the dusty earth. For the umpteenth time, she cursed Naruto for this stupid mission that was the direct cause for her current dilemma. Escaping a fireball by hiding behind a pillar, she took a deep breath, pushing air into her exhausted lungs. Just as she breathed out, gigantic claws swiped at her. Managing to sense it just I time, the girl ducked underneath the claws, then somersaulted to the left. Her patience quickly running out, the girl unsheathed her sword from its sheath. Holding the sword with hands the shook slightly, she yelled, "NARU, SHIBERU!"

At that exact moment that Yugito reached for her zanpakuto, the zombie-ish Nibi opened her mouth to fire a black ball of flame directly at the said girl. Yugito made no move to dodge it; when the last word came out of her mouth, the sword emitted a slightly glow. Soon, the glow turned into a bright white light, blinding everything, giant cat or no.

When the dust and light finally cleared, Yugito was standing there, a giant ten-foot crater behind her. Her sword, miraculously, was undamaged. It's shikai form looked very different. The blade itself was black, with shining red runes carved into it. Also, the sword lengthened to about one and a half times its normal size.

"Narasu no Shichi Zai: Gekido"

The runes turned from just plain red to a bright maroon color, the color of old blood. After the last rune made its transition, an inhuman shriek emitted from it, starting at the tip, and then spreading out like a shockwave. The sheer power of the shockwave shook the temple and the whole entire village, all the way to the borders.

The cat at first twitched, then when the screams reached her ears, her pupil dilated, then she began to roar. She did not know what was going on, but her blood was boiling in her veins, literally. Her bones began to soften and melt, her ear drums were forcefully shattered, due to either her own screams or the shockwave. She felt her brain shut down with a grateful sigh, giving up its struggle. Slowly, the darkness crept in from the side of her vision, and she knew no more. The cat was dead.

Job done, Yugito took a deep breath, willing her demonic powers to heal her injuries. Her youkai made a quick job of it; within seconds, she was back in perfect health. Wasting no time, she ran outside, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. There Yugito picked up on Konan's chakra signature, tracking her back to the kage tower, where she was watching over her newly conquered village.

Creeping slowly, she sneaked up behind the woman, thrusting her zanpakuto into and through her throat. Konan's eyes betrayed no emotions; she didn't even have enough time for her brain to acknowledge her death.

Carefully, Yugito plucked the Akatsuki ring from Konan's dead body. Without a twitch or gimace, she wiped her zanpakuto clean, sheathed it, and leaped out the open window, into the welcoming darkness of the night.

* * *

Over at Soul Society, Uzumaki Naruto, the newly appointed third seat of eighth division, was about to head over to the cafeteria for some food. He slightly twitched, then turned and ran back to his room. The passing shinigami shrugged it off as one of those 'I forgot something' cases. Once there, Naruto locked the door and sat in a cross-legged position.

'Alright, Yugito, what do you want?' he asked through the telepathic bond.

'Mission accomplished. Konan and the old Nibi is dead, and I've got her ring.'

'Good job. Since you're the first one done with their bijuu, you get to give Aizen a warning in my place.'

'YES!' Naruto could feel her sadistic excitement on the other side of the bond.

'Alright, now I have to eat lunch.' With that, Naruto closed the bond, once again walking towards the cafeteria.

* * *

With barely contained excitement, Yugito opened the Shushin gate directly into Aizen's meeting room.

When she walked out of the Shushin Gate, she unknowingly frightened Aizen. She did know once she saw his slightly widened eyes, and fought the urge to start laughing right then and there.

"Nii Yugito, Lady Nibi of the Council of the Nine Lords. What brings you here today?" Aizen asked pleasantly, or though he knew exactly what she was doing here. He was no fool. He knew that Uzumaki found out about him telling the Espada about the council, and she was here as a warning.

Yugito's outline blurred, and in less than a second, she appeared behind him, Shiberu unsheathed and at his throat.

"Don't joke. You know exactly why I'm here. I'll tell you this; Naruto was… less than pleased when he heard the news. Consider yourself warned, Aizen." She whispered in his ear. After she finished her message, she disappeared once more, opening a Shushin Gate somewhere in the vast desert. All that was left of her presence was an evil crackle echoing through the wasteland of the sand.

'WHAT? How did she get there so fast? How did she do that? That was NOT shunpo OR sonido! Above all, how did I NOT know that she was there?' Aizen felt liquid trickling down his neck. Reaching to his neck, he felt blood. His blood. Following his instinct for once, he shuddered, and it was definitely not related to the temperature.

* * *

Finishing his bento and dumping it in the trash on his way back to his room, Naruto stopped by Nanao's office to pick up some paper work. With a sigh, he set them down on his table and began to write and sign his signature with amazing speed. He silently thanked his time as a Hokage for this useful skill.

* * *

Sabaku no Gaara is not a rash person. In fact, he can be extremely patient. But still, his patience was wearing dangerously thin; ice thin. Especially when there are stacks upon stacks of paper work on your steel enforced desk. In fact, there was so much paperwork that you couldn't see over the stacks, even while standing up. Yup, a normal day in tenth division.

With a sigh, he tossed a dried up pen in the trash, while ignoring his aching hand. He picked up a new pen from the stack by his desk, and began to complete the paperwork. Even in death he could not escape the evil being known as paperwork.

* * *

Naruto nearly jumped when the midnight bell rang loudly throughout the whole eighth division. Getting up, he stretched out a bit, deciding to go for a walk when a messenger from the first division burst in through the front door, looking quite worn out.

"Yamaoto-soutaicho-says-that-he-has-urgent-news-and-it-can't-wait-until-the-morning." He said, through gasps of air.

Naruto frowned, but went to get his coat nonetheless.

* * *

When he got to the first division meeting room, he saw Hitsugaya and Gaara also standing there with the same curious eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara; you are to be stationed permanently in the living world until the war is over. You will also need to obtain bankai during that time. Hitsugaya-taicho will help you with that, along with Urahara Kisuke and Shihouen Yoruichi. Any objections?"

There was silence. No one objected to this not-so-complicated plan.

"Very well. Meet at the North edge of Soul Society by noon tomorrow. Dismissed."

As the three walked out, all of them shared one thought.

'What was so freaking urgent that it has to disturb my rest/dinner/break?!'

* * *

When Hitsugaya walked out with angry tick marks on his face, Yamamoto crackled inside his head. Sure, his job was a pain in the arse sometimes, but this was one of the moments that he loved his job.

* * *

The next day

* * *

After saying goodbye to his coworkers, Naruto walked through Rukongai, giving away some spare change on the way. When he got there, he found Gaara and Hitsugaya waiting for him.

Hitsugaya opened a Senkai Gate to Karakura Town, and they all stepped through the Japaese style rice paper door, led by three black, fluttering butterflies.

* * *

Once they landed back in the living world, they were greeted by the resident shinigamis, in which Hitsugaya almost suffocated when Matsumoto glomped him. Once the others were ushered out by Ururu, Tessai, and Jinta (who got into an argument with Ichigo), only Yoruichi, Urahara, Hitsugaya, Naruto and Gaara were left.

"So I understand that you two are to begin the bankai training soon." The 'cat' said, which in turn earned two nods.

"How long will it take?" Naruto asked, rather innocently.

"Three days."

'Hmm… so they are using the dummy method… Wonder why they're in such a rush?' Guess who?

"Besides that, we'll have to enroll you two in Karakura High School. The two of you will be going under the disguise of Orihime's cousins from Osaku. Gaara; you'll have to change your surname to Uzumaki."

Upstairs, the meeting was interrupted by Ichigo's not-so-quiet call to get Naruto and Gaara on the roof. Naruto and Gaara got up with a sigh, making their way upstairs.

* * *

When they were about midway up the flight of stairs, the duo stopped briefly to once again eavesdrop.

"Fuuton: Koe no Kaze." Gaara and Naruto whispered, their lips barely moving. A slight breeze drifted through the roof, twirled around the two for a brief moment, before going back up again. Now they would hear whatever conversation that the air picks up in the meeting.

Continuing their walk upstairs, they two reached the roof, and walked out into the blindingly bright sun.

* * *

The blonde nodded absentmindedly at Ino as she told them about the school's gossip. He was paying much more attention to the information that he was gathering on the wind. Any other person would just see Naruto leaning on the rail, with his eyes closed as the wind runs through his spiky hair. They would most likely assume that the two were tired from their travels through the Senkai Gate. Gaara too, was sitting in a cross legged position with his eyes closed, listening to the conversation.

_"Do you think they'll be able to get through the training?" Hitsugaya asked, curiosity lacing his voice._

_"Of course. Ichigo could do it, so they'll have no problem. Besides, their zanpakuto trained them."_

_"To have them begin training so soon… Soul society must be getting pretty desperate for captain material."_

_"They passed with flying colors. What do you expect? With three captains gone and Hinamori still recovering, we need new captains. Don't forget the war this winter."_

_"Speaking of captains, what about Ichigo? He's reached bankai already."_

_"Too rash. He doesn't even know kido. We could teach him, but it's going to take some time. With Hinamori down, Isane is the best we have right now, and she's busy with fourth division. Besides, he relies too much on brute strength to take down his enemies."_

_"Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but Ichigo's acting weird lately. His reiatsu spikes up and down. Remember Byakuya's fight? He does have a hollow in him, thanks to _you _Kisuke. Maybe he's turning into a Vizard?"_

_"Possible. Maybe we should ask Ishin. After all, he IS a Vizard himself and the kid's dad."_

_"What about the others? You know, Hiyori and Shinji's bunch. They're the ones that know this type of thing the best."_

_"Not possible. After they were exiled from Soul Society, even I had trouble tracking them. I'm not surprised though… they were all lieutenants or higher."_

_Hitsugaya sighed tiredly."We'll just deal with this later. We have two would-be captains we need to train."_

_They all got up, stretching a bit and headed up towards the roof._

* * *

Opening his eyes, Naruto smirked a bit. Well, this was certainly interesting… He would need to discuss this with the other lords.

"Hey guys; I'm a bit tired after traveling through the Senkai Gate. I'm going to sleep a bit. Wake me up before dinner, okay?"

The others nodded absentmindedly, paying more attention to Ino's gossips than Naruto's excuse. Without another word, Naruto started his way downstairs, along with Gaara. On their way, they met Yoruichi (in cat form), Urahara, and Hitsugaya.

* * *

Reaching their room, Naruto sat on his bunk bed, while Gaara pulled up a chair. The two closed their eyes again and opened the telepathic bonds.

_'Hey guys, something interesting came up. They're planning for us to be captains. Shihouen, Hitsugaya, and Urahara's going to help us 'discover' our bankai.'_

_He could hear Sasuke and Rokubi snort in amusement._

_'It'll be a slap in the face when they figure out or we tell them who we are.'_

_This statement earned another round of laughter._

_'It seems like Hirako Shinji and the others who were exiled might show up. Young Kurosaki's showing all the ordinary signs of turning into a Vizard.'_

_'Oh? This IS interesting news indeed… So we're going to have more captains in Karakura? I wonder if they'll help Soul Society… they DID get exiled from that place.' _

_'Maybe they will. They must hate Aizen for making them Vizards. Also Hiyori might want to help Urahara. '_

_'Or not. Most likely they'll just stay neutral, since they have past grudges with both sides.'_

_'Good point. And also, Ichigo doesn't seem to know that his dad's a shinigami, let alone Vizard or ex-captain.'_

_'Hmm… In-ter-est-ing. Oh, by the way, Naruto, I gave Aizen a warning. He was scared stiff! That wimp.' _

_'Once again, good work. One of them is coming upstairs soon, so we have to go.'_

* * *

Getting up from his seated position, Naruto and Gaara both stretched, working the kinks out of their necks. Once they were done stretching, the two went downstairs for dinner. It was fun to eat again, after not eating for so long. Not that they needed to eat, but old habits die hard.

After a miniature feast of ramen and sushi, Ino and Shikamaru went out to get rid of some low level hollows that appeared around the southern part of the town. When they returned, Ichigo went out to get some more cleaning supplies to clean up Orihime and Matsumoto's latest cooking experiments.

By the time the kitchen was clean again, it was almost midnight, so all them returned to their respective homes/rooms to catch some sleep before school begins again the next day.

* * *

At six o'clock the next morning, the shinigamis, human living in Orihime's house woke up and ate some microwaveable breakfast and some milk or juice. After that, they left the house and made their way to the school.

A while after they arrived there, Ochi-sensei slammed the door open and tapped the blackboard twice with a piece of white chalk.

"Alright class! Settle down! We have two new students from Osaku today; Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Gaara. They are cousins of Inoue-san. Please give them a warm welcome. Naruto-san, you can sit in the empty seat next to Hirako-san, please raise your hand. Gaara-san, please sit in the empty seat next to Kuchiki-san, please raise your hand."

After the two of them sat down, Ochi-sensei began the lecture for the day.

"Today we are going to review for the test tomorrow. Can anyone tell me…"

While looking out the window, Naruto felt someone tap his shoulder. The person introduced himself.

"Hey there, my name is Hirako Shinji, heartthrob of the class. Let's be friends."

"Hirako! Answer the question on the board!"

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, Naruto andd Gaara followed Rukia and the others to the rooftop to eat their lunches. They were interrupted when the shinigamis' hollow detectors beeped madly. Ten hollows, all in a park next to a nursery. The group got up and ran to the closes bathroom and switched to their shinigami forms. Then they hurriedly leapt out the open window outside the bathroom and use Shunpo to get to the park.

At the scene, Naruto immediately unsheathed his zanpakuto and sliced off the arm of the hollow closest to him; he wouldn't have even bothered to use his zanpakuto at all to kill a hollow as low-classed as this, but it was about to crunch a kicking and screaming five year old in half.

The bug-masked hollow opened his mouth to let out a roar of pain, but was rudely interrupted when Naruto jumped high into the air and sliced the hollow cleanly in half. He sheathed Hiraisenmaru as the hollow disintegrated into nothingness.

Looking at how the others are faring he saw Gaara also sheathing his sword, but no sign of the hollow; not even a speck of blood. As expected, Gaara's sword absorbed any blood let out by the hollow.

Hitsugaya and Rukia froze their hollow and it broke into thousands of ice shards.

Matsumoto's turned to dust and returned to the earth.

Ikkaku's had a spear stabbed clean through the mask, shattering it and the body completely.

The hollow that Yumichika was handling had wounds that bled profusely, charged towards him, before Ikaku killed it with a thrust from his trusty spear.

Renji dodged a punch from the mutated hollow and swiftly beheaded it.

Orihime's didn't stand a chance; her attacks are based mainly on speed. Her anger towards the hollows also gave extra power to her attacks.

Chad's left arm of the devil sent a powerful punch towards the hollow, which sent it sliding back a few feet. He then finished the hollow off by breaking its neck while it was still recovering from the last attack.

Ichigo had a variety of scratches and bruises from that measly hollow, who had about the same amount of injuries as Ichigo. The hollow was once again about to punch him, but Ichigo was too slow— The blow was about to make contact with Ichigo's head—

When Rukia unleashed Shirayuki and froze it into a pillar of ice.

"Ichigo! What's wrong with you?!" she shouted, half angry and half worried.

Naruto, who was watching this silently, mentally raised an eyebrow.

'That's all? He must be trying to keep his inner hollow in at the same time.'

After mind-wiping the sobbing five year olds, the shinigamis made their way back to the school to finish their lunches. Strangely, Ichigo remained silent throughout the returning trip, earning him more worried glances from Renji and Rukia.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw something, but it vanished half a second later. He didn't need to turn his head to find out what it was; he already knew. Hirako.

* * *

From a branch on a tall tree, Hirako was watching the entire fight with a smirk. He was impressed with the two new guys. From what he heard, they were most probably past shinobis. All the other shinigamis used their shikai except those two. He could have sworn the insomniac redhead looked a bit bored, but he was so emotionless that it was hard to tell.

He was honestly disappointed with Ichigo's part. He expected more from someone who defeated Byakuya. Once the battle was over, he returned back to the school with stealth and speed.

* * *

That Night

* * *

Ichigo stared out his bedroom window, staring at the stars. His mind flashed back to Hirako's words yesterday…

_'Let's be friends.'_

He thought that guy was mad at first, with his freaky looking smile. The word Vizard kept ringing in his ears again and again. Would that guy really help him control his inner hollow? How did he appear so quietly and quickly?

_'You aren't meant to stay here with these humans.'_

Did he really not belong with them? The glances, Rukia's worry and disappointment…

'_Ichigo! What's wrong with you?!'_

They were getting pretty close to finding out the truth, especially Hitsugaya. Would they shun him? Would they be scared of him? How would he explain this to Karin, Yuzu, and Dad?

'_A Vizard, just like you.'_

'_I'll teach you how to control that hollow inside you.'_

He stopped his train of thought and climbed into his bed.

'I'll think about this later.' He thought.

* * *

In Hueco Mundo

* * *

In one of the numerous Espada meetings, one of the topics that came up was Kurosaki Ichigo.

"I want someone to go find out how strong Kurosaki Ichigo is. Ulquiorra, Yami, you two will go to Karakura for this task."

The majority of the Espada was surprised at the sudden request. Of course, Nnoitra had an objection.

"He's just a young shinigami kid." He scoffed.

"He was able to defeat Kuchiki Byakuya, Kenpachi Zaraki, Abarame Renji, obtain bankai in three days. He also has a hollow inside of him; he must be turning into a Vizard sooner or later, like his father, Kurosaki Isshin." Szayel pointed out.

"You question my orders?" Aizen asked, with a slightly steely tone.

"Che…"

"You two will leave tomorrow, plenty of time for you to gather information. Keep in mind what I told you during the last meeting."

Some of them stiffened a bit, remembering their leader warning them about the Nine Lords. By what Aizen told them, they were strong- unbelievably strong- and not to be messed with. They now know what they looked like, but not their names. For some reason, Aizen just smiled, and told them that they did not need to know that piece of information yet.

"If that is all, meeting dismissed."

* * *

The next day after school

* * *

Naruto was meditating in his room, listening to various reports from the lords and their spies. All was peaceful when a sudden spike in reiatsu made him lose his concentration.

'Espada...'

Wasting no time, he got out of his gigai and jumped out the open window. He need to find Gaara as soon as possible. He was sure that the redhead would notice the spike, as will every other person with more reiatsu than normal beings, including the shinigamis and Vizards.

When he found Gaara, the two nodded at each other before Shunpo-ing to the crater created by the two Espada.

* * *

Ulquiorra looked around the trash gathering around him with bored emerald eyes. Where is that Kurosaki brat? He wanted to get this done and over with as soon as possible.

Yami took a deep breath, and all around him, people started dropping dead like flies. This will surely draw the shinigami's attention.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Ulquiorra noticed that a human was still alive after Yami sucked the reiatsu out of the people. Being the idiot he was, his partner was about to kill that girl when yet another piece of trash interfered and blocked his attack.

'Great, more of this trash. They do have unusual abilities though.'

His eyes flickered towards Orihime, who was vainly trying to heal Chad.

'Time reversal? Interesting… Aizen-sama would want to hear about this. Ah, so the Kurosaki brat is here.'

Wasting no time, Ichigo immediately released his bankai, creating yet another spike of reiatsu, which temporarily shocked Yami. He did not expect that kid to be so strong. But being the hot headed arrancar that he is, Yami attacked Ichigo without a delay. This proved to be a fatal mistake when Ichigo's Tensa Zangetsu cut clean through his arm.

'Hm… He cut through Yami's steel skin. Not half-bad. The kid is a bit stronger than I thought. He might prove to be a slight problem to Aizen-sama. His reiatsu is spiking up and down… One moment it's higher than mine, the other it's as low as trash…'

He turned his attention back to the fight just in time to see Yami's punch being blocked by a circular, round, shield made out of reiatsu. Behind the shield were more shinigamis, all of them he recognized. Two of them in particular drew Ulquiorra's attention.

'The blonde and the redhead… those two are part of the nine lords Aizen-sama told me about. Kyuubi and Ichibi… Along with Shihouen Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke. The other shinigamis are coming as well.'

"Kisuke, I'll tend to Inoue-san. I need the medicine."

Angry at being ignored, Yami charged towards Yoruichi, just to earn himself a punch in the face and a kick in the stomach, sending him crashing to the ground.

Unwisely, Yami tried to send a cero towards Yoruichi, which Urahara deflected using Benihime's shikai.

Ulquiorra stepped in and sliced the attack in two with his bare arms. Urahara's eyes almost popped out of his sockets.

'How is he doing that?!'

Naruto looked on with curious eyes. So the Espada sliced Urahara's attack like it was nothing. He might prove to be a good fight.

'I want to fight him!' Hiraisenmaru demanded, causing the glow around the sword to brighten. Naruto looked down at his sword with a smirk.

'All in good time, all in good time.'

He looked beside him, and he saw Gaara and Chigetsuei both with bloodlust surrounding them like a sickening cloud.

_'Mission comes first.' _He silently reminded Gaara.

_'I know! But I want to fight him.'_

_'So do I.'_

Ulquiorra turned around and punched Yami in the stomach, much to Urahara and Yoruichi's surprise.

"Idiot. Those two are Urahara Kisuke and Shihouen Yoruichi. We'll lose at this rate unless we flee. I already found out what I need. The brat isn't worth killing. Just like all the other trash."

Even though his words seem to say that Yoruichi and Urahara are two that they need to beware of, his eyes told a different tale. His eyes flickered towards Gaara and Naruto, who called off his shikai. It was then that Yami realized that those two are part of the nine lords that Aizen told them to beware about. Quickly, Yami backed off and stepped into the rip that Ulquiorra opened. As soon as the two stepped into the rip, it closed shut, much like a zipper would.

Hitsugaya and the others arrived just as the rip started to close. All they saw was Ulquiorra's emotionless green eyes before the rip closed completely.

* * *

Ichigo lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Once again, the Vizard argument erupted in his mind.

'What was I thinking? I can't keep this up. I would have been dead by now if they hadn't shown up. I need to get this hollow controlled.'

It was then that he made up his mind to agree to Hirako's offer.

* * *

In Las Noches

* * *

"Welcome back, Ulquiorra. I trust that your mission was a success?"

"Yes, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra kneeled, then raised his hand and plucked out his own eye. Then he crushed it, allowing Aizen to see everything that happened.

"I see." He was glad that Ulquiorra stopped Yami before he decided to take on one of the lords. He would hate to create another Espada. They kill each other too much; first Nel Tu, then Yami and Grimmjaw's hot headedness would get them killed one day.

"The boy was too weak to even bother to kill."

"Ha! You're just too afraid because the boy is stronger than you expected! An enemy is still an enemy!" Grimmjaw interrupted.

"When that time comes, I will personally dispose of the boy."

"I trust in your judgement, Ulquiorra."

"Tch…" Grimmjaw backed down, but the expression on his face had a different message; 'This is not ever.'

* * *

Once again meditating, Naruto decided to once again talk to the others.

_'Interesting news today. Aizen sent two of his Espada to Karakura to measure Ichigo's power.'_

_'Oh? Which two?'_

_'Fourth and Tenth; Ulquiorra and Yami.'_

_'I see. So what did Kurosaki do, Naruto-kun?'_

_'He tried control his hollow, bankai, and fight Yami at the same time. He almost got killed if I hadn't interfered and block the attack.'_

_'He's going to take up Hirako and the Vizards' offer about controlling his hollow. What's more is that the Fourth, Ulquiorra, sliced apart Urahara's attack like nothing. I want to fight him.'_

_'Same old Gaara.'_

_'Hn. Shut up, Sasuke.'_

_'Naruto-kun, I've found Yonbi's trail and I've gotten pretty close to it.'_

_'I'm also pretty close to Gobi's trail as well.'_

_'Right, good job, Itachi, and Hinata'_

Naruto closed the telepathic bond when Hitsugaya knocked on his door.

"Come in."

"Urahara and Yoruichi wants to begin Gaara and your bankai training as soon as possible."

"The arrancars were stronger than they thought, right?"

Hitsugaya nodded.

"I'll get Gaara. I think he's on the roof meditating."

"Meet us at Urahara's shop as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded.

_'Gaara, Urahara wants to begin the bankai training now. Evidently, the Espada were stronger than they thought. Meet you at Urahara's shop.'_

_'Okay. The Espada would make a good fight, but not as good as a fight as one of the lords or ladies. I'll get down from here.'_

"Dad, I'm going out for a walk." Ichigo yelled, raising his voice over one of his dad's idiotic speeches about puberty again. He didn't see or notice the strange contemplating glint in his dad's eyes.

"Okay, just be back in time for dinner!" Yuzu replied.

Ichigo closed the door behind him and began the quest to try and find Hirako. Instead of trying to search everywhere, he closed his eyes and reached for the Reirakus. He found his own, red with a new black taint. While he was searching, he also found the others, except for Naruto's and Gaara's. Ichigo searched for quite some time for Hirako's spirit thread so that he could follow him, but a voice made him lose his concentration, putting him back to reality.

"What are you doing, Ichigo-kun?"

"Hirako. I thought about your offer, and… I accept."

'The Espada incident must have made up his mind.'

With a nod, Hirako led Ichigo towards the direction of the Vizard's meeting place, an old abandoned barn.

'Just you wait. I'll be back to normal in no time!'

**'Heh. We'll see about that, King. Not if I have anything to say about it!' **

* * *

"Hey old man, Ichi-nii still hasn't returned. I called his cell phone, but it's off. Where is he?"

"Have you called Inoue-san?" Yuzu suggested.

"Good idea, hold on." Karin quickly dialed Orihime's number.

"Hello?"

"Inoue-san? Have you seen Ichi-nii? He went to walk but he hasn't come back yet." Karin said, somewhat desperately.

"No… But I'll help look for him."

"Oh. Okay, thanks…"

Rukia, who happened to 'overhear' the twin's conversation, grew worried. In their desperation none of them noticed that Isshin had slipped away silently.

'Ichigo…Where are you?'

Unknowingly, more than one person shared the exact same thought as her.

* * *

_Preview:_

_"Hello again, Hiraisenmaru-sensei"_

_"Don't you get it, Ichigo? The decision was never yours."_

_'Ichigo, you really are an idiot.'_

_"You're not a shinigami"_

_"Long time no see, King."_

_"So we can finally use our bankai again."_

* * *

Jap-English translate

Hirasenmaru Light Spiral Ring

Chigetsuei Blood moon

Kagayaku: glow

Shukketsusuru: bleed

Naru: Ring (yes I know that the word has different meanings)

Shiberu: Death bell

Narasu no Shichi Zai: Chime of the seven sins

Gekido: Wrath

bento: lunch

Fuuton: Koe no Kaze: Wind style: Voices of the Wind

* * *

Nine Lord Council (different from Espada)

Ichibi: Gaara

Nibi: Nii Yugito

Sanbi:--

Yonbi: Hyuuga Hinata

Gobi: Uchiha Itachi

Rokubi: --

Shichibi: --

Hachibi: Uchiha Sasuke

Kyuubi: Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

Mandy: word count: 5066 in 16 pages. Also, I'm changing some events from the original timeline to fit the plot better. There might be some spoilers of the more recent manga chapters in future chapters. Yes, I know this is not my best chapter, but I was rushing a bit, so I might go back to make some changes later.

1st EDIT: reditied Monday, May 26, 2008

2nd edit: Sunday, August 17, 2008

R&R


	4. Cards are revealed and the fun begins

Espada no Naruto

Chapter three: Cards revealed; the fun begins.

Mandy: I might not be able to right as much when I go on a vacation in summer, but in the mean time, here is the next chapter of Espada no naruto!

* * *

_Previously:_

_Rukia, who happened to 'overhear' the twin's conversation, grew worried._

_'Ichigo…Where are you?'_

_Unknowingly, more than one person shared the exact same thought as her._

* * *

Inside a dim mountain cave, something stirred; this was no ordinary animal, for none of the wildlife dare come near this cave. An ominous roar echoed around the caverns. Finally, a slit and glowing orange eye cracked open.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY REST?!"

The said beast was obviously pissed off at being woken up for the tenth time this week. Stupid shrimp of a human keep making him appear in the village of more of those useless vermin. So, in short, the Yonbi didn't get enough sleep, and someone was waking him up, again.

The unfortunate person didn't flinch or wince at the loud volume. A somewhat fragile but bored expression was plastered on her face. Pupil less white eyes stared intently at the opening of the cave. Her waist length black hair was tied in a high ponytail, with two cropped locks of hair framing her fair face. Four scaly tales were swinging behind her. Perhaps the most intriguing of scene is a semi-transparent sword that lay in her hand.

This zanpakuto, unlike all the other ones, is different. It feels light to touch, and weighs next to nothing. This was because this sword is composed of one thing: the wind itself. Being such highly based elemental sword causes a constant breeze to flow around the sword. Such elemental swords are rare, like Hitsugayga's Hyorinmaru or Yamamoto's Ryuujin Jakka.

"Me." Hinata said without stutter. Like Naruto, she had long since shed her shy personality; such a thing would get you killed faster than one can blink on the battlefield.

This time, the Yonbi was curious. This human did not shriek or flee the cave. Instead, it was challenging him, the great Yonbi! Then he looked the human over, and froze.

'Shinigami! No; not shinigami; something else…'he thought with alarm.

His eyes stopped at her tails.

'Of course. The council was replaced with the jinchuuriki when we were captured. She must have defeated mine. Well, too bad, looks like the council will need a new member once I'm done with this idiotic substitute of mine!'

He opened his mouth and let out a giant breath of the poisonous gas that he grew infamous for.

As the gas approached Hinata, she stood there, and at the last second, she said:

"Fuku, Gin Kaze."

The breeze around the sword instantly turned into a full blown wind. In the background, a transparent-looking eagle appeared with its wings outstretched and beak wide open.

When the poisonous gas reached Hinata, the eagle behind her beat its wings once, and the poison was sent back to the Yonbi with its speed doubled. In his shock, he was blinded by his own attack, which was sent back to him by his opponent.

Not wasting this chance, Hinata shushin-ed around the Yonbi and sliced off three of his tails in one swipe of her long but light sword. Once separated by the main body, the tails all turned to stone.

Shrieking at the immense pain caused by the attack, the half-chicken half-snake creature turned his head to glare at Hinata, only to find her gone.

'Fast!'

"Too slow. Tezawari no Ishi"

She appeared behind the beast, and jumped up, missing it's snapping beak at the last second. She then spun and hacked her sword like an axe, imbedding it in the neck of the Yonbi. Instead of blood pouring out, the monster let out a desperate scream, before its vocal cords are turned to stone, then the brain, the heart, and the rest of the body.

Deciding to be cautious, she finished this with one last attack.

"Sakura Kaze"

Once again, the eagle beat its wings twice and instead of wind, pink cherry blossom-like feathers pelted at the statue with amazing speed. To the naked eye, this speed-based attack would be nothing more than pink streaks flying at the statue with pin point accuracy and speed.

The statue collapsed, and in its place was a pile of fine granite dust, with a single shining pink petal-like feather on it, before that too, turned to dust.

Job done, Hinata used Shushin again to get to the kage tower of Kusa, where a brunette girl of eighteen sat contently. She filed through a stack papers on her desk, muttering under her breath. On her shoulders was the infamous Akatsuki coat, and her finger held Itachi's ring before Sasuke killed him.

'So, this is Itachi's replacement, huh?'

Hinata appeared beside the girl, and obediently, the eagle trailed after her. Giving a curt nod to the majestic bird, the avian took a deep breath, sucking in a variety papers, furniture, and the girl. Before she fully disappeared, Hinata took the pleasure of plucking the Akatsuki ring from her quickly retreating figure. Once she was down the eagle's throat, the bird let out what looks to be a burp and retracted his wings, his expression demanding for her to call off the shikai so he can get some rest.

Smiling faintly, Hinata did as the bird demanded, and called the shikai off.

'Time to give Naruto-kun a call.'

* * *

In a shabby candy store in Karakura Town, Naruto and Gaara sat cross-legged on the Japanese style cushions on the floor, listening to Urahara's explanations about bankai. Their attention was split in two when they received a 'call' via the telepathic bond from Hinata.

_'Naruto-kun, Gaara-kun, the Yonbi is dead; turned to finely grinded granite dust, to be more accurate. Itachi's replacement is dead as well.'_

_'Good job. Two down, seven more to go.'_

_Then Itachi also came into the conversation._

_'Naruto, I found the Gobi's trail, and I'm on to it.'_

_'Great.'_

_'Naruto, Urahara is about to show us the basement.'_

_'Bye, you two.'_

With that, Naruto's mind snapped back into the real world, just in time to see Yoruichi leaving the room and Gaara getting up. Not wanting to be left behind, he followed Gaara out of the meeting room in a slight trot.

* * *

When Urahara told the two to climb down first with noticeably more humor than usual, he was slightly skeptical. His intuition told me that there was some kind of inside joke that he was missing. His fears were as good as confirmed when Yoruichi also grinned widely, as if waiting for some kind of joke to be performed by them; only that they didn't know what it was.

Shrugging off the hurriedly sinking feeling, he climbed down the trap door nonetheless, expecting stairs or a ladder to assist him in getting down. What he did not expect was to be in free fall down what seemed like a fifty foot drop with the good hard ground at the bottom. His shinobi skills took over with ease, and he began to somersaulting on his way down the drop. Just as he was about to crash, he stopped and landed on his hands, doing a back flip to land safely on the ground.

Sure, he might have gotten a few scratches or bruises, but better that then breaking his neck.

Looking behind him, he saw Gaara also landing safely on the ground. Urahara and Yoruichi also followed using a ladder, but their eyes wide with surprise.

'They'll have no problem with bankai training.' Thought Yoruichi

'Must be from shinobi training' Urahara reasoned quite correctly.

Quickly shaking off the surprise, Yoruichi further explained about gaining bankai.

"Here are the dolls we told you about. Our reiatsu will sustain your zanpakuto's form for about three days. Gaara, you'll be going to the east side of the basement. Naruto, you go to the west."

Naruto and Gaara pretended to look confused, while they resisted the urge to roll their eyes.

'You might want to get a bigger basement once you're remodeling the basement; if you're lucky, the foundation might still be standing after we're done with it.'

Interpreting their fake confused look, Yoruichi grinned. "You'll know why when you begin the training. Back to what I was saying, I'll be sustaining Naruto's doll, while Kisuke will be sustaining Gaara's. Okay then, Gaara, the west is towards that side, and the east is towards this side."

Naruto smirked with slightly dark humor and walked to the left, towards the direction that Yoruichi pointed to. Gaara did the same, except in the opposite direction.

"See you in three days, Kisuke."

"Same here."

Without further adieu, the two of them shunpo-ed over to their side respectively and stabbed their zanpakuto/hand in the doll, activating it.

* * *

Ichigo winced. The painful wound from his side wasn't helping his condition either. Towering over him, Hiyori stared down from that button nose of hers. Smirking, she bent her knees so that her eyes were about on the same level as his.

"Don't you get it, Ichigo? The choice was never yours. We thought that you had potential so we considered adding you to our group. You don't have a choice on this."

He felt anger and embarrassment welling up within him. Worse yet, his hollow began tempting him, whispering in his mind thousands of ways that he could make her life hell. Getting his resolve back, he pushed the sound of his hollow's voice away from his mind, in time to receive a kick to the head from Hiyori.

"Show me your mask, Ichigo. Let your hollow take control, or DIE." Hiyori said, her voice deepened by the hollow's power.

**'She asked for it, so what 'ya waiting for, king? Show her what ya made out of!'**

'The hollow has a point, for once…she DID ask for it.'

Ichigo was about to warn her anyways, but the hollow didn't give him enough time for that.

Excited at getting full control of the kid's body, Ogichi immediately took over, dragging the mask over his face, exposing his eyes, which turned a frightening yellow-black. Madly swinging Zangetsu like a piece of bamboo, he shunpo-ed over to Hiyori at inhuman speeds, seizing and crushing her throat with his right hand.

* * *

Currently, the once hyperactive blond was staring calmly ahead as the doll morphed and stretched. Within half a minute, the doll was no more. In its place was his teacher, friend and weapon, Hirasenmaru.

When she materialized, she wore a one-sided downward frown on her face, like always. Unlike all the other more feminine zanpakutos, she chose a more boyish name that ends in '-maru'. She'll show them that she can kick any of their sorry arses anytime of the day. Unsurprisingly, she represents Naruto's old shinobi spirit, the headstrong, stubborn, and prankster-like that died away with the boy's body.

"Bankai training, huh?"

As soon as she finished speaking, various swords of different sizes and shapes appeared all around them, stuck in trees or stabbed in the ground or a nearby boulder. Hirasenmaru pulled one out from a chunk of rock nearby and hefted it, testing the weight.

Naruto also picked on up, this one thinner and with a serrated edge. Instead of attacking, he focused his eyes on his zanpakuto's sword and feet, anticipating her next move. Surprisingly, she began to move her fingers on the hilt.

'Code.' He thought.

This was one of the codes that the Lords came up with, hard to notice unless you knew what to look for. His mind began to rapidly decode the hand movements as quickly as her fingers moved.

_'You won't want to reveal your bankai to them, so how about I teach you another move to pretend that it's bankai? You'll have to call out bankai and the move's name so I know which move you're talking about.'_

Naruto slightly nodded, and began to move his hand on the hilt as well. Just so that Yoruichi doesn't get curious, he also switched the hand on his sword and shifted his feet a bit.

_'Thanks.'_

Deciding to be extra cautious, Hirasenmaru completed the act with a seemingly taunting statement about his temper.

"Not rushing into battle as before, eh, Naruto-kun? It seems that with enough beating over the head, the lessons finally got into your thick skull."

With that, she disappeared at a blur, which was cue to Naruto to also disappear.

Yoruichi felt her eyes widen. Such fast speed!

They only stopped a few times to exchange brief battles of parrying strength, physical blows and sword fighting tactics. Other than that, the two movements were like a fast paced dance that was perfectly choreographed, to the very last step.

Keeping his eyes on the muscles of her arm, Naruto managed to predict her moves in tie to dodge them, but was cautious enough to keep his feet running and let her have a hit or two. He made extra precautions so that he's not going all out; this is also what made this fight so difficult. He had to constantly keep his strength at a controlled level, carefully tuning it so it rises or drops a little once in a while.

Likewise, Hirasenmaru also took it easy on him. For one, she did not drop her weights. She also was purposely more uncoordinated than one of their regular spars. To complete her act, she made sure that Naruto would land a few grazes too, once in a while.

Phasing back out of her thoughts, she waited till his punch was about ten inches from her face before ducking, Kurenai style, letting his foot to only hit a few strands of hair. She noticed that once again, his sword crumbled to ashes, and the golden blonde subconsciously reached for another one nearby without even having to turn his head.

Feeling that the sword was a lot heavier than the other ones, he let his eye wander to it for a split second. The image that his eyes sent to his brain, for once, truly shocked him from head to toe. The shock that he was feeling started a domino effect inside his mind, unlocking various chains of memories that he had locked away long ago.

'This is ZABUZA'S sword!'

* * *

Observing his zanpakuto's spirit transfer into the doll was slow and boring work; but then again, most of the things in life were boring in Gaara's eyes.

The first thing that Chigetsuei did when she materialize to the real world was to check out where she was, and why she was called here. Her reiatsu radar picked up Hirasenmaru and Naruto's reiatsu signature a few miles away, clashing with each other's and fighting for dominance. She raised an elegant eyebrow in response to the information she gathered. Then she began to blink twice, paused, and then blinked three times. The clever spirit decided to use this code, simply because she had her back to Urahara, so he couldn't see her face.

In return, Gaara slightly frowned, until it hit him like a ton of sand. 'Code! Of course.'

Using facial expressions and various common gestures, like stretching the neck or feet movement, in the façade of a warm up exercise, the two began to communicate in code.

_'I'll teach you a different move. It's not wise to let them know your true bankai yet. You have to call out the attack's name with bankai though, so I know you're not talking about your true bankai.'_

Gaara nodded.

"Nice to see you again, Gaara." She said a smile on her heart-shaped face. Unlike her wielder, she represented the part of his soul that was killed when Yashamaru tried to kill Gaara; his freedom with emotions and his childhood cheerfulness. Yet at the same time, Gaara's bloodlust is so great that it tainted his emotions and young memories as well.

Gaara nodded again. Quite determined to earn this new skill as soon as possible, his hand grasped and pulled out a nodachi sticking ninety degrees from the trunk of a tree next to him. Then he vanished, trying to land a blow on his teacher.

Chigetsuei smile got bigger, and closed her eyes. Then she also disappeared.

Not unlike the other pair at the opposite end of the basement, the two vanished and reappeared for brief periods of time in contests of strength and wit. Only that this fight was more of strategy; Naruto's one was more of strength. The two knew each other's weaknesses and both used the knowledge to full extent. Instead, Gaara tried to concentrate more on kido and hakudo. Both knew that they would have to limit their strength and soften the blows, which neither of them liked.

Easily countering his attacks and dodging his blows, Chigetsuei would start the incantation of release reiatsu at the same time or very close to the time that Gaara does. That way, the two attacks would collide, cancelling each other out.

Both leaping out of the cloud of smoke that was their result of the latest attack, they began another hand-to-hand fight, with Chigetsuei and her slightly superior speed gaining a slight advantage.

Urahara, forgotten by now, watched the fight with a hanging jaw.

'I'm going to have to rebuild my basement by the time they're done; if one fight is like that, two will destroy everything twice over! On the other hand, this IS one good fight. This is a captain's level fight! Having found those two might be the key to getting the upper hand in the war.'

* * *

Uncharacteristically, Shirosaki Ogichi (ichigo's hollow) whimpered.

**'Ookay, so maybe killing that little girl isn't the best; but she asked for it!'**

Just like always, Ichigo pushed away his voice and focused on the situation that he is in right now. Currently, he is lying on the ground, with half a dozen of Vizard zanpakutos pointing at his head or neck.

Hiyori, on the other hand, is sitting backed up to a wall, her two hands frantically clutching at her severely bruised and injured neck. Tears of fright were running down her face, and her body was shaking all over.

'That was nearly as bad as when I saw Kensei as a Vizard the first time! That boy really was going to murder me if Shinji hadn't stopped him!'

Shinji walked over to Ichigo, his face showing a deep frown. He took the tip of his zanpakuto and shattered Ichigo's mask, causing his eyes to retreat to their normal brown color.

"Hiyori, you have enough of an example?"

Hiyori just ignored him, still not over the incident five minutes ago. She was still clutching at her throat, extremely glad to still be alive.

Seeing that Ichigo was returned to normal, the Vizards lifted their zanpakutos from his neck somewhat hesitantly and sheathed them. Then Lisa went into a room in the barn and brought out what looks to be a piece of gym equipment.

"What is this?" Ichigo asked. Somehow, his intuition told him that he would not like the answer.

"This is the Super Hiyori Walker. You'll be working on this for the next couple of days." There was a evil-looking smirk on her face, and the sun reflected on her glasses, rendering Ichigo unable to see her eyes.

"You mean shitty Hiyori walker." Hirako whispered, hoping that Hiyori wouldn't hear.

Unfortunately, the said girl did hear, and sent a flying kick towards Shinji, who was sent spin-flying to the opposite wall in the barn.

"SHUT UP!!"

Ichigo's right eye started twitching, and then he sighed exaggeratedly.

'This is going to be some looong days.'

* * *

The next day….

* * *

Over deep within Uraharas spacious basement, a spiky blonde panted as he accepted a bottle of water from his equally exhausted zanpakuto spirit. Sitting down hard beside a withered old tree, the two of them tried to catch their breath. Naruto closed his eye for a just a brief moment, and a flashback scene played within his exhausted mind.

_Flashback_

_"This is ZABUZA's sword!" he half-shouted._

_"So?"_

_"It's not supposed to be there!" in code signal, he added _'and this didn't appear in my first bankai training!'

_Hirisenmaru frowned more and asked "Why not? This represents your past. If you manage to shatter this sword, you'll be half done with bankai."Also replying in code, she added _'It was there last time; you just didn't pick up that one.'

_He could feel his eyes cloud over, his mind trying to drag him down memory lane, but Naruto was not one to give up without a fight. His senses picked up an attack at the last minute, and hurriedly blocked it with the flat side of the heavy sword at the last second._

_Putting all her weight on her attack, she felt the blonde's hand quiver ever so slightly as he struggled to hold up his block. _

_"Remember what Kakashi told you? Never let your guard down."_

_The two leapt away from each other in the process of breaking the attack. Rushing back at him at a zigzag pattern, the spirit threw a sweep kick at him, which Naruto quickly jumped away from, and countered back with a fast kick towards her face. _

_Not about to be so easily defeated, she caught his foot in her strong grip, and twisted it, hard. Then she released it, in the process of ignoring his wince of pain. His face slightly twitching, he spun his blade in a block, glad that the wide steel surface blocking the attack better than a slimmer sword would._

_Focusing his attention back to the present, Naruto's eyes noticed that Hirasenmaru's reiatsu spiked slightly, and her mouth opened, forming the first word of one of the common hakudo incantations. Realizing that he was a syllable behind, he also began his incantation._

_"__Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, strike but slightly your claw upon this wall which feigns ignorance of sin! Hakudo San Juu-san: Soukatsui!"_

_He finished it at the same time to hear Hirasenmaru also finished with her last syllable. The two fireballs, one of deep red, the other one of electric blue, clashed with a thundering roar, and shook up a huge cloud of dust. From the other side of the basement, Urahara felt the shock from the attack shaking casued by the two attacks colliding. Hearing a slight cracking sound, he turned his attention to the cliff face that was to his left. Deep inside the cliff was a huge crack, threatening to fall any time._

_In the midst of the dust cloud, the two opponents exchanged blows and moves, neither of them relying on sight. Both of them closed their eyes and relied on their reiatsu detection skills and their hearing for any warning of any upcoming attacks. _

_When the cloud of dust finally settled out, both sides were panting. Hirasenmaru sported a purpling bruise on her pretty face, two cracked ribs, and a few scrapes on her shin. Some parts of her battle kimono were torn, mostly on the arms._

_Naruto wasn't much better off either. He had a few bruises and cuts on various knuckles, when he struck the rock that Hirasenmaru threw at him as a distraction. His arms and left shoulder also had some slash wounds that bled sluggishly, courtesy of her sword. His right ankle is also twisted, if not broken, from when the time she caught his kick. The boy's right calf tottered on the verge of cramping from the intense battles and adjusting to the heavy weight of Zabuza's sword._

_Semi-smirking at each other's wounds, the twos decided to take a breather and heal their wounds. _

_Flashback end_

So here he is his breathing slowly calming as he rested briefly. His annoying but useful mind sent bits and pieces of his long buried memories, digging up unhealed wounds.

'Shut up. Make your peace with the past and get on with it. You have a war to win and a realm to put back in shape. You have no time to be sober about the past; don't let it hold you down!' the sensible part of him scolded.

Cruel as the truth may be, this did the job. The blonde allowed himself one more sigh and started to reflect upon his current life. He has people to keep alive, a dying wish to honor, new friends to protect, and a jerk to kill. This time, when he stored his memory away, he was careful not to push it aside roughly, but rather lay it down in the back of his mind to remind him of his more carefree days.

He was rudely woken up when Hirasenmaru shook his shoulder vigorously, making him dizzy.

"Wake up, sleepy head. Whatever you did, you did well; Check out the sword."

Cracking a sleepy eye, they flew open when he saw Zabuza's sword. It was cracking, a large rift in the center, then branching out to lots of smaller ones. After a few seconds, it disintegrated to dust, sending and imbedding a set of directions deep into his mind. Knowing that he was extremely close to learning this move, he let the information wash over him like a tidal wave.

* * *

Gaara's eyes opened wide from the cat nap that he took. While he was napping, the information for this new move settled out into his mind, sending several images his way.

There were about two dozen blown glass see-through orbs, all in different sizes and colors, just like the ones in his shikai. Instead of circling the opponent, they flashed in and out of invisibility, not even leaving a shadow when they did. Then they would charge up and fire concentrated reiatsu at him, all locking on to his signature. The one thing that struck him weird was the color of it. The blasts were black, a shiny blue-black. Around them was a black glow, stronger than the moon… more like a sun…

"Chigetsuei, is this the name of the attack?"

Having seen his thoughts, she smiled and nodded.

* * *

Naruto mentally gritted his teeth, cursing his zanpakuto for the thousandth time while trying vainly to calm down. After all, what a laughingstock he'd make now if he lost his temper, adding to the amount of misfortunes that have come across his way! While he gets to work out his 'bankai', his spirit just sat there, swinging her legs, clearly enjoying the show. What is so funny about having your hair singed, your clothing drenched, your hair getting remodeled by various pieces of wind slicing locks of your hair, the ground randomly creating mud holes for you to step in, and electricity zapping you at everything you touch?!

His new move was simple; make one spiral, reflect four others from that one, add elements to them, and make them move in directions; not straight lines. So far, he was succeeding. This was in a sense a downgrade from his usual bankai, but he had to pretend that he was having trouble; else wise Yoruichi would get suspicious- potentially dangerous for his mission. But still, she didn't have to order the elements to deliberately disobey his command, not that they were tame kittens from the start.

Throwing another glare at the whistling zanpakuto spirit, Naruto continued to try to get these stupid damned elements under his control.

A small black cat twitched it tail, from left to right. It certainly was amusing to see the elements pretty much spitting in Naruto's face and the poor boy can't do anything about it. She remembered the last time she foolishly tried to master the elements; she didn't even come close and they ended up almost killing her. That was embarrassing. For some reason, Naruto seems to be having an easier time with controlling them than most other shinigamis. Maybe it was due to the fact that shinobis associate a lot with the elements with their Jutsus.

* * *

The last day of bankai training

"Kurotaiyo, Chigetsuei"

Twenty-four beautiful crystalline orbs materialized from his swords and floated around a practice dummy made roughly of twigs and straw, held together by a piece of rope braided from bark. Some of them disappeared, while others began circling around it much like how flies do at high speed. Then black jets of concentrated reiatsu hit the dummy and exploded, blinding everyone who was watching, also conveniently setting the dummy on fire.

The sound of two people clapping drew Gaara's attention, and he dismissed the bankai.

"I think you've got it down, Gaara."

"My my! This is certainly earlier than I have expected! Let's go see if Naruto-kun is done!"

'That guy is way too cheerful, even if it is just a façade.' Gaara grumbled in his mind.

* * *

Yet once again, Hirasenmaru was sitting on a rock, one knee propped up and her chin resting on it. He long hands plucked a long blade of grass from beside her feet and stuck it in her mouth.

"Sooo… How's your bankai training?"

"Done. I've got the elements under control, finally; with no thanks to you." He added, throwing another glare at the boyish girl.

"Hey, look at it this way; you'll have better control over the elements when I go back to the zanpakuto world. It'll save you lots of reiatsu in the long run."

"It's not like I'm running out of reiatsu anyways." Naruto grumbled. In a much lower voice, he added "I could always tap into my youkai if I run low."

"True… Maybe I just liked seeing you getting beaten up by the elements."

Before he could retaliate, Yoruichi, Gaara, and Urahara came strolling their way.

"Ahh Naruto-kun! I trust that you're done with your bankai?"

Naruto gave a curt nod.

"If you don't mind, would you show us what it can do?"

With a shrug, Naruto unsheathed his sword and pointed it at a nearby tree.

"Bankai: Kansen Eizo"

Like with his shikai, the blade and Naruto were surrounded by a warm glow, and a fiery white spiral appeared. This was short lived when the spiral flickered, then multiplied until there were five instead of one. Then each of them took on an element. One of them turned earthy brown, with green vines climbing around it. The other one was a deep sapphire blue, with some white and light blue, like the crashing waves. The third burned—literally. It was surrounded with a raging fire, making it seem more like a fireball than a spiral. The next to the last spiral was crackling with golden and blue electrical sparks, and the spiral itself became a lightweight steel, ideal for conducting electricity. At last, the final one, of wind, was semi-transparent, with the edges less transparent than the middle.

With a flick of his fingers, the spirals flew towards the tree in a curve, and exploded. To the naked eye, the spirals did not leave at all; that was because those images were a reflection of the real spirals, left in their spot in case someone saw through the afterimages.

'So he can make them curve now.'

'Amazing, to be able to put elements into those spirals to increase their powers.'

'The kid did get it down in three days… '

Sensing that his reiatsu was dipping low, Urahara cleared his throat.

"My reiatsu is dipping to near low levels" he said

"As am I" Yoruichi interrupted.

"And since both of you mastered bankai, there is no need for the spirits to be here any longer. Also, we need to conserve our reiatsu for the upcoming attacks."

When both Gaara, Naruto, Chigetsuei, and Hirasenmaru nodded, Urahara and Yoruichi stopped their reiatsu flow towards the doll, and the spirites dematerialized.

Then the four of them headed back upstairs through a ladder dropped by Jinta.

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku no Gaara, have you two completed bankai training yet?"

The two nodded once more and answered with a yes.

"You two are now ready for the application for Captain Rank, but due to the upcoming war, we have decided not to promote you yet. Your opponents would underestimate you, and your bankai 

would serve as a trump card in case your opponent is an Espada. However, you will be made captains after the war is over."

Once again, the duo dipped their heads.

'Yeah right, that's what you think.' The duo unknowingly shared the same thought.

"Now, from what we gathered, Aizen's goal is the King's key…"

And so, Yamamoto droned on about Aizen's goal, which Naruto and Gaara already knew long ago Soul Society even caught a whiff of it.

_'You know, it's fun to be able to use one of our bankais again. It was boring just using shikai.'_

_'I quite agree.'_

When the four of them stepped out of the 'TV Room' as Naruto dubbed it, they were met by a frantic Rukia, who almost ran straight into the two of them.

"Naruto, Gaara, have you seen Ichigo? He's gone missing!"

'The Vizards.' They thought to each other.

They feigned surprise, and asked Rukia in return, "Can we go help look?"

Rukia bobbed her head eagerly up and down, and ran out the door again, followed by Naruto and Gaara.

* * *

'The Vizards won't be dumb enough not to put up a barrier shutting off their reiatsu'

'So there's only one way left to find Ichigo.'

"Hiton: Hitoki Gyakuten." Both of them whispered, not eve bothering to do hand seals.

Both of them followed a trail of silvery reiatsu to Ichigo's house, and saw a ghost version of the boy himself walk out the doors and headed toward the northern part of the city, leaving more of the silvery trail as he went.

Being careful not to let the ghost Ichigo see them, the two tracked him to an abandoned barn near the school in the northern direction.

To unaltered eyes, the barn looks normal, but to Naruto and Gaara's extra sensitive youkai enhanced eyes, there was a warm yellow-orange glow surrounding the barn in a bubble.

_'One of Hachi's creations.'_

_'Now, as for breaking it, this might be a fun challenge.'_

_'Did you say challenge?' Hinata added, butting in their conversation._

_'Ah'_

_'I need some challenge. Let me see if I can solve this one.'_

_After a span of about ten minutes of muttering under her breath and asking the two to perform some detection jutsus on it, Hinata finally got the puzzle solved._

_'Got it.'_

_'Use wind armor and a small bit of water to replicate the air, so the barrier won't register you two as intruders. They've got to let the oxygen in somehow.' With that, Hinata left the conversation looking for some corrupt shinobis to kill and citizens to save._

Shrugging, the two formed hand seals with amazing speed and called out their newly created jutsu's name.

"Futon, Suiton: Kitai Genso Katchu"

A passing breeze surrounded the two, as well as a slight bit of trailing water from a pond nearby. After swirling a bit, they formed an inch thick barrier covering the two of them from head to toe. Then they just walked right through the barrier and into the barn, not even bothering to conceal their reiatsu.

* * *

A certain orange haired teen could feel his eye twitching as he concentrated more of his anger on this stupid piece of gym equipment. Ichigo was about to complain again when something drew his attention.

The Vizards all turned their head as one towards the entrance, thinking the same thought.

"No one has ever passed through Hachi's/my barrier undetected before!"

"Hello, Hirako-san." A shadowy figure said.

Hirako immediately recognized the voice, and he had a sinking feeling that he knew who was beside him.

"Uzumaki Naruto-san."

"Hirako, you know this guy?!"

"They're the new 'shinigamis' that are supposedly going through bankai training."

Naruto frowned. They we're supposed to know that. But then again, it's been years since anyone truly surprised his calculations.

Then, to make sure that Ichigo would not hear this next part, Hiyori started a shouting match with Ichigo about him slacking off, causing the angry orange head to ditch the machine and chase her. Obviously, Hiyori's taunts made Ichigo chase her out of the room.

"But, you're not a shinigami" This time, Gaara raised his nonexistent eyebrows. So Hirako surprised Gaara as well.

"What makes you say that, Hirako-san"

"Even if you two were past shinobis, you have more reiatsu than the others. Also, I could tell that you are holding back, unlike the other three shinobi-shinigamis at the school."

'Sharp.'

_'Hey guys, we have a problem here.'_

_'What?'_

_'The Vizards know that we aren't shinigami, but they don't know who we are either.'_

_'Should we tell them? They stayed neutral in the war so far, and a new Hueco Mundo might get them to help us.'_

_'If they decide not to join us, they would most likely keep quiet, since they have grudges against both sides.'_

_'And they would get revenge against Aizen without siding by Soul society as well.' Sasuke added._

_'So it's decided that we tell them.'_

_Naruto received unanimous nods in return._

"Alright then, if we tell you who we are, will you keep quiet about us?"

The Vizards looked at each other and nodded, while Hachi performed the Bakudo 77: Tenteikuura to let Hiyori know what was going on while she taunts Ichigo.

"Fine."

"How much do you know about the nine lords?"

They looked at each other again, but this time in shock.

"Before you get the wrong idea, we are NOT on Aizen's side, and we are definitely not a part of the Espada." Gaara quickly added.

"Basically, the nine lords are equivalent to the shinobi's nine tailed beasts, and they were pulled into this world when the olden times shinobi uncovered some documents. Since they used to rule Hueco Mundo, it was thrown into the chaos that it is now when they were 'kidnapped'.

So, as their human sacrifice, we took their spot in the council of the lords after they were once again forced under the rule of humans. Our goal is to fulfill their final conscious, or what I call, dying wish. The nine of us decided to take Hueco Mundo back and restore it, so that less blood would be shed.

That also means killing Aizen, but since we make out home in Hueco Mundo, we 'pretend' to work with him, which led Soul Society to thinking that we were a branch of the Espada. We can't be even compared to them, because our abilities far outstretch them; for one, we use both reiatsu and a combined form of chakra and reiatsu, dubbed youkai. We are also given a partial animal form and full animal form that can cause massive destruction.

So the bottom line is this: if you join us, you and get your revenge on Aizen without having to join Soul Society, which we know you also hold a grudge against. We'll set up a part of Hueco Mundo for all those who were experimented on by Aizen, including the Vizards. Also, Soul Society will owe us big for our help, and we'll try to work out a deal with them so that they won't look at us as vermins."

"How much do you know about us?" Lisa asked.

"Your former ranks, zanpakutos, strengths, weaknesses, and a bit on Vizard abilities."

"How did you cross my barrier?"

"Youkai. And also with a physical body, we can use youkai for shinobi techniques, which shinigamis don't know."

"I see.."

The Vizards looked at each other and began to communicate through the Bakudo that Hachi set up.

_'What do you think?'_

_'They have a point. This might be what we are looking for. The shinigamis would want to monitor our movements after the war.'_

_'Besides, they know more about us than we do them.'_

_'They are powerful, I can tell. They would be better as allies than enemies.'_

Hirako nodded.

"We've decided to join you."

Naruto and Gaara both looked at each other and nodded.

"We can discuss this later, but Ichigo's hollow needs to be controlled."

"Agreed."

* * *

Hachi slapped his hands together and put on various bakudo barriers, all the best that he can make it. Just for extra protection, Gaara summoned up various sand and winds shields and any other barrier jutsu that he can think of. Naruto used his vast knowledge in seals to make the area sound, motion proof and fully protected. In fact, the room was so well protected that people could blow up dynamite there and people outside the barrier would never notice. That is, until the barriers got taken down.

Hirako then began to explain the process of changing from a shinigami to a full hollow, then to a Vizard.

"We'll each take ten minute turns inside the barrier. Any longer could be fatal. Since we have ten of us now, Ichigo would have one hour and forty minutes to complete the transformation until the first person goes again. If he gets out of control, worse case scenario, we'll have to kill him"

"I see. Maybe Gaara and I can use some of our jutsus to delay him while we stand in the back."

"If he's that powerful, we might have to use one of our bankais."

"One?"

"Our zanpakutos taught us each another move to substitute in the place of our true bankai so Soul Society won't know. Besides, our true bankais are meant to kill; it'll be easier if we didn't use them."

"I see."

A demonic roar broke their conversation, making the group turn their attention towards the half Ichigo half hollow creature.

"I'll go first." Hiyori volunteered, and walked through the warm orange shield.

* * *

As various clashes and bursts of reiatsu littered the air, Naruto was in deep thought.

_'We may have to switch to partially animal.'_

_'I would prefer not. The animal forms are huge—the barrier might not cover it.'_

_'Even so, in worst case scenario, if one of us has to switch, the other will set up the illusion barrier. I have some of the seals in out pocket if I'm the one that has to switch.'_

_'We'll see'_

"Naruto, your turn." A bloody and exhausted Hirako walked out of the barrier, and Lisa walked over to put on some bandages and stop the healing.

* * *

'In this form, he's stronger than most of the captains; hmm… maybe this will work.'

Naruto formed some quick one handed seals as he dodged a clawed hand aiming for his head.

'Boar, snake, rabbit, dragon, rat, boar.'

The blonde once again dodged another punch by back flipping, his sword now sheathed but not drawn out of shikai yet.

"Sui, Do, Ka, Rai, Fuuton: Goryuu Endan Bushin no Jutsu!"

Five huge dragons formed out of the ground, each three or four times the height of a normal human. The earth one took no time in attacking Ichigo, roaring as it charged towards the white and black hollow Ichigo. The creature summer saluted into the air and sliced it in half using its clawed hand.

Letting out a defiant scream, the dragon split, and miraculously, did not disappear into the ground, but formed two separate dragons, smaller, but growing quickly in size.

This process went on for about two to three minutes, until the hollow Ichigo finally ran out of patience and fired several ceros at the crowd of dragons before him. This time, _the dragons, as hardy as they were, could not survive a blast from such a high concentration of reiatsu. They all melted and trickled back into the ground and into Naruto's body again._

'Well, that delayed him. I guess I should pull out my bankai now.'

"Bankai: Kanzen Eizo"

Again, the spirals formed and each took on aspects of the five elements. They chased Ichigo as it ran, then turned back and attacked them. The hollow was not having any progress, because whatever part of him that touched the spirals were burned or sliced and any reiatsu he threw at them were absorbed and sent back to Naruto, who was refreshed instead of being tired.

However, he could not just sit back and watch because he has to control the five spirals and make sure that they don't kill Ichigo. Mostly, he just lets them graze an arm or two, but once in a while they get out of control, as he soon found out.

The wind spiral raced in front of Ichigo and ran straight at his left leg. Because it was preoccupied with the other spirals, it did not notice the semi-transparent attack his leg. Ichigo and Ogichi both felt the pain as their left leg got sliced off and promptly got repaired. The other spirals took 

the second of hesitation and rushed toward him, but Naruto took strict hold of their actions once more and called them all back.

'I need to work on the control of the attack.'

"Naruto, your ten minutes are up. It's my turn." Gaara called from outside the barrier.

* * *

"Your friend is quite the elemental master, isn't he" Hirako told Gaara.

The redhead just nodded absentmindedly, deciding on the best course of action towards his now mutilated classmate.

* * *

When he stepped inside that barrier, the first thing Gaara did was create three Kage Bushins with lots of extra youkai. These would stand more than one hit; in fact, these could stand as long as their power doesn't run out. They could get sliced in half, put themselves back together and continue, as long as Gaara continues to supply them youkai.

The first Kage Bushin Gaara had it under strict orders to keep to Taijustu and distractions only.

To the second one, the redhead tossed it the real Chigetsuei and told it to release bankai if necessary.

The last one Gaara sent it extra youkai to use for Jutsus and Kido.

All of them were given strict orders not to kill Ichigo. Cut off an arm or a leg, yes, but give him enough time to recover, much to the clones' dismay. Like their creator, they had a taste for blood.

Then he just sat back and watched the show. Of course, he couldn't let his guard completely down, so he changed partially to his animal form.

His raccoon tail made its appearance, as did the Shukaku's infamous yellow and black lines. His nails also turned into claws, teeth into fangs. Youkai lingered at his claw tips, glittering a dangerous red and black, charged up and ready to go.

By the time the ten minutes were up, Gaara was without a scratch, or though he was panting slightly due to the effort of pumping youkai into the clones constantly.

The clones, on the other hand, were a different case. The first one has been sliced open too many times to count, died twenty times, and was still had blood stains from when one of his neck veins had been sliced wide open.

The second one had its head still bent a ninety degree angle and a permanent scowl planted on his face. Ichigo snapped its neck, and it had healed crooked. Not to mention that its creator and Naruto were both smirking when it walked out of the barrier. Its body sported several newly healed scars, including one when Ichigo's hand punched right through his left lung.

The last one got off the best, since this one was smart and kept away from the boy, preferring to fire Kido and Jutsus from a long distance. Of course, he had scars and regenerated organs due to Ichigo's speed and the element of surprise.

* * *

In Limbo

"Holy SHI!! The radar is going haywire at Karakura! More than fifty deaths in ten minutes by the same person but no bodies or souls!!"

The first and second hokages were running overtime trying to sort this out, while the Sandaime Hokage sensed something familiar.

'Something tells me that this is Kage Bushin.' Being with Naruto did have it's perks; now his intuition helped him sort out which ones were Kage Bushin, which ones were real.

Finally, the Yondaime Kazekage walked over and looked at the images, which no one touched, and banged his head against the desk.

Seeing the other kages gazes, he said:

"It's Gaara that's causing this. Even in death he still causes me trouble!!"

The others just threw him a 'wtf' look, while Sandaime chuckled at the poor kage's misfortune.

* * *

All of the clones were more than happy to leave once Gaara dismissed them. The Ichibi himself grimaced at the memories. Brutal as they were, some of the moves that hollow Ichigo performed could be used to terrorize enemies later on. The Ichibis before him all had a sadistic touch, and he was no exception.

_'Why did I not think of using Kage Bushins?' Naruto asked, more to himself than to Gaara._

_'Because you tend to focus more on direct attack and power.'_

_'Touché'_

The Vizards, however, were in awe at the display of tactics and power that the two showed.

'I'm glad they aren't working for Aizen; if they were, we'd lost the war for sure.' Hirako thought.

After about one and a half hours, Ichigo finally overcame his inner hollow and saved Hiyori from having to fight against Ogichi again.

Then Naruto and Gaara took down their barriers, and helped the Vizards in the less brutal part of Ichigo's training: keeping the mask on.

* * *

'I can do this' Orihime strengthened her resolve again as pumped more reiatsu into the Shun Shun Rikka attack.

At last, she finally broke through the barrier.

"Guys, someone else broke through the barrier."

Everyone stopped to look at Hachi with great surprise, then at the entrance.

Five people recognized the orange haired beauty standing at the stairs.

'Orihime/that girl' thought Ichigo, Gaara, Naruto, Hirako, and Hiyori.

"Orihime! What are you doing here?"

"Well, Kuchiki-san and the others were really worried about you, and I noticed that the animals avoided the barrier, so I thought that maybe I could go through the barrier with Shun Shun Rikka.

Hachi showed his curiosity about her abilities by bombarding her with questions; and found out to his immense pleasure that her abilities were quite similar to his. Then he proceeded to teach her some of his original barrier and kido techniques.

When the sun finally began to glow red on the horizon, the girl decided to go home to report the good news to Kuchiki-san and Sado-san. One more thought struck her as weird.

"Naruto-san, Gaara-san, why are you here?"

"Well, we tracked Ichigo to the barn by using one of the techniques I came up with while I was traveling with Gaara, and then he set up a shield and I released my bankai to blast a hole through the barrier. When we got here, we decided to help Ichigo and his training, once things were explained to us." Naruto explained, his face not betraying a slight hint of his lie.

Gaara just shrugged as if saying 'he dragged me into this' which was not a complete lie.

"I see. Well, come home once you're done with the training!" the she flashed a grin and ran out the front door.

"She was my first crush" Hirako sighed dramatically, earning a smack on the head from Hiyori.

* * *

"Orihime! There you are; there are lots of hollows and partial arrancars spotted at the edge of the city; some of the gang are injured. Climb on to my back; I'll have to shunpo us there." Yoruichi said.

The girl nodded, getting Shun Shun Rikka ready.

Neither of them noticed in their panic to get to the hollows that an eerie, bright green eye watched the two depart from the darkness.

* * *

_Next time:_

"_Kurosaki Ichigo, where are you?!"_

"_You were a good fight, but the next time you hear my name will be your last!"_

"_Do you need me to take over, king?"_

"_You would have wiped Karakura off the map, Ichigo."_

"_I want you to retrieve Inoue Orihime."_

"_You are not to, under any circumstances; follow Inoue Orihime into Hueco Mundo."_

* * *

Jap-English translate

Hirasenmaru Light Spiral Ring

Chigetsuei Blood moon

Kagayaku: glow

Shukketsusuru: bleed

Naru: Ring (yes I know that the word has different meanings)

Shiberu: Death bell

Narasu no Shichi Zai: Chime of the seven sins

Gekido: Wrath

Fuku: blow

Gin Kaze: Silver wind

Tezawari no Ishi: Stone touch

Sakura kaze: Cherry Blossom Wind

_Hakudo San Juu-san: Soukatsui: Destruction Arts thirty-three: blue fireball_

_Kurotaiyo, Chigetsuei: Black sun, blood moon_

_Bankai: Kansen Eizo: Final release Light Spiral Ring: Reflection_

_Hiton: Hitoki Gyakuten. : Light style: Time Reversal_

_Futon, Suiton: Kitai Genso Katchu: Wind style, water style: Air illusion armor_

_Suit, Do, Ka, Rai, Fuuton: Goryuu Endan Bushin no Jutsu: Water style, earth, fire, lightning, wind style: five dragon shot clone technique_

* * *

Nine Lord Council (different from Espada)

Ichibi: Gaara

Nibi: Nii Yugito

Sanbi:--

Yonbi: Hyuuga Hinata

Gobi: Uchiha Itachi

Rokubi: --

Shichibi: --

Hachibi: Uchiha Sasuke

Kyuubi: Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

Mandy: chapter length: 24 pages, 9,082 words. This chapter is in a sense a double chapter because I won't be updating for a while.

EDIT: 6/3/08- forgot to write Yugito in for Nibi; added poll.

2nd edit: August 17, 2008-- took out the poll and corrected some mistakes-- I'll be working on the next chapter of this story soon, since my beautious plot bunnies came back xD

R&R


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